VIKTOR POSTOL tested elite super-lightweight Josh Taylor to his limits when they fought in Glasgow in June. But Taylor came through to secure a key victory and set up his entry into the next season of the World Boxing Super Series.
“We knew we were going in the tournament so for us it was get him out the way now. Because Postol was going to go in as well,” Taylor’s trainer Shane McGuigan said. “I think it was perfect for us. A huge risk for us but it was perfect at the same time. He [Taylor] fought a top-level fighter going into it and he’s got momentum. He also knows that he can do the 12 rounds at a high pace as well. I think he got hurt, he overcame it. A lot of answers, a lot of boxes ticked for us. Postol said he was in the best shape of his life. I believe him. I think he was in the best shape of his life. That fight there or the Matthysse fight was him in his best physical condition.”
“I’ve never seen Josh hurt like that but he overcame it really well,” McGuigan continued. “He’s a natural fighter. He can really overcome things. There’s a few things that I have dressed him down since, his concentration, he wasn’t concentrating early in the fight.”
The trainer added, “He thought he was just going to waltz through him, which is great to have that confidence but it’s a good little wake up call for him now going into such a tough tournament.”
Taylor will fight Ryan Martin in his opening WBSS contest. “We only had him or [Terry] Flanagan to pick from because the other ones were mandatory fights,” McGuigan said. “Ryan Martin he’s a lightweight coming up. Slicker, he’s a good fighter. It’s going to be a tricky fight. It will be a tricky fight and Josh knows that… I think Martin is going to be a tricky fight.
“He’s had a couple of good wins, Martin, but has he really boxed many people?”
He believes Regis Prograis selected Terry Flanagan in order to prepare ultimately for a World Boxing Super Series final with Taylor. “We thought we were going to get Flanagan. But Prograis obviously thought I want to get a southpaw, European, British style, so I’ll pick Flanagan because then I’m going to meet Taylor in the final. He was thinking strategically it makes the most amount of sense,” McGuigan said.
But Shane notes, “Whoever [Taylor] comes up against I’m sure he’ll have the ingredients to beat them because he’s a special talent.”
